According to the latest information, the CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk explains how the company recovers super-heavy rockets. Musk said that SpaceX will try a very different method from the recovery of the Falcon 9 rocket booster to recover the super-heavy rocket booster that launched the interstellar spacecraft.
The height of the super-heavy rocket booster is equivalent to the entire two-stage Falcon 9 rocket (70 meters), and its mission is to put an interstellar spacecraft into orbit, which will be the most powerful rocket booster ever built. It is equipped with as many as 28 Raptor engines, which can generate more than 7,300 tons of thrust at launch, which is twice and three times higher than the Saturn V and SpaceX Falcon heavy rockets, respectively.
Previously, SpaceX’s plan was to recover the super-heavy rocket booster in a manner similar to the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rocket boosters, allowing them to land on an unmanned recovery vessel at sea, or return to the landing pad near the launch pad. But after a lot of design improvements, SpaceX now hopes to land the super-heavy rocket booster directly on the launch pad.
Musk said that SpaceX will try to use the launch tower arm used to stabilize the launch vehicle during pre-takeoff preparations in mid-air and “capture” the super-heavy rocket booster currently under development in mid-air. Musk said that the current Falcon 9 rocket booster relies entirely on built-in landing legs to propel the landing when it returns to the earth, but the super-heavy rocket booster has no similar design.
The super-heavy rocket booster will still use the engine to control its landing speed, but it will involve the use of grid wings on the main body to help control the direction of flight, and hook it with the launch tower arm before the booster fully touches the ground live.
Of course, this recycling method requires higher precision and may bring new risk factors, or requires very robust recycling hardware facilities. However, the benefits are also significant. SpaceX does not need expensive recovery assets, time-consuming transportation, or even the need to hoist super-heavy rocket boosters from the landing zone near the launch pad back to the launch pad.
Another potential benefit proposed by Musk is that this design allows SpaceX to basically immediately recover the super-heavy rocket booster and return it to the launch pad. SpaceX only needs to be ready to use a new payload, and it can launch again in less than an hour.
SpaceX’s goal for interstellar spacecraft and super-heavy rockets is to create a launch vehicle that is easier to reuse than the current Falcon 9 rocket system. Ultimately, Musk hopes that the interstellar spacecraft can perform regular and frequent flight missions, point-to-point flights on the earth, missions in orbits closer to home, and long-distance interstellar missions to the moon and even Mars.
Musk’s goal is to allow humans to settle on Mars, which also requires the rapid recovery and reuse of super-heavy rockets like the new recovery method he proposed today. The prototype of the interplanetary spacecraft is currently being built and tested in Boca Chica, Texas, USA, and SpaceX is also studying the components of the super-heavy rocket booster. Musk recently stated that he intends to start testing super-heavy rocket boosters in a few months.
(Source)
